Lost and Found
by Derkesthai
Summary: In which the four monarchs of Narnia thought it was justified to have a three month break away from royal life, venturing to the southern countries whilst undercover to solve a five-year-old crime mystery as a favour for the widowed Queen of Terebinthia. Book-verse. Golden Age.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER I**

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of freedom and relief from slavery and toil..._

* * *

The night was in its peak and the stars dotted the skies like a thousand of condescending eyes, much more seen as it was in the wide expanse of an unending desert. A lone figure wearily crossed the remaining distance left from a small village, casting a long shadow on the dusty ground by the light of the full moon.

In one glance, one could tell that the figure was just a traveller from a far away land and had simply came to the desolate town for a temporary place to stay. However, if they had known what lay inside the foul smelling sack the figure carried, they would have scampered away and not dare even look at the covered face. For within the stitched rag was a rotting decapitated head of a man and the figure was, in conclusion, a bounty hunter who seek to claim the weight of it in gold.

The figure drew up a hand and pulled the scratchy veil - tied around the head and covered the nose and mouth which helped keep the sand from being swallowed or inhaled - to reveal the soft contours of a young woman's face. Her eyes, a murky teal like the colour of the shallow seas when the sun shone upon it, were almost covered by the greasy frizzed ends of dirty locks that wouldn't be contained by the hood that protected her from the harsh heat of the sun and the scrutinizing looks of other people. Her once fair skin was now burned tan by the hot desert and her face was skinny and not at all womanly because of the cruel times she spent eating nothing but stale bread that perhaps even rats wouldn't dare touch. Her hands weren't soft and feminine by any standards, for they were calloused and knew well how to use the bow that slung across her torso and the long sheathed blade that hung on her left hip, slightly concealed by the dirty cloak she wore.

At any other time, she would have thought against revealing her face because of a hundred different reasons concerning both the security of her anonymity and her safety but she deemed it dark enough and she was quite suffocated by the cloth. She shifted her hold on the sack after taking a deep breath of the cold night air and then pulled the veil back to her face, making sure it was tight enough to not be pulled but loose enough to let her sip some air.

The town itself was not very impressive; it needn't have to be for it was the center of all the dirty tradings within the mainland. It was located in the suffering desert between the mountainous greenery of Archenland and the abominable country of Calormen, just ways east of Agorbah. The business of the town had started too long ago, when the Calormene nobles had hired mercenaries to kill outlaws, the ones which were dangerous but not significant enough to waste their warriors on, and were instructed to bring their heads as proof in exchange of gold pieces. Since then, different countries had dipped their hand in the business and the town became a popular nest of anonymous individuals who were skilled enough to kill and would do anything for survival. All countries except Narnia of course but that country had just been freed from an endless winter almost five years ago and the witch that had enslaved it had cut it off from the rest of the land when she had cursed it with her magic, and it was still shakily rising to its feet by the lead of its newly enthroned monarchs.

Trudging inside the village, she made her way at the opposite end of the small town where the largest cabin stood. It was easy to spot in the darkness because it was the only place still lit and was well bustling with movement and action. The wooden structure was known as the Haven and housed the only bar and restaurant of the town, and it was also where bounties were claimed. Even a ways far from the place, she could already hear the carouse hoots and boisterous laughs of the occupants.

As she entered, she gave a nod at a girl she came to know as Tina who sat on the table nearest to the door next to a large dark-skinned man - Calormene, she guessed - with grubby moustache and beard, looking as comfortable as a squeezed rabbit. Tina was quite new and had only been in the Haven for a fortnight at the most, probably an import from Archenland because she was fair-skinned. Such a pity, really. She thought the girl was very beautiful and young still, although she couldn't really talk herself because the girl was just around her own age.

When the rest of the people of the room caught the sight of her, the place momentarily quieted and she grinned with something akin to pride beneath her veil. After three years of her time in this service, she had already made a reputation among her dangerous, rumbunctious peers - if they could be called that. The silence was but broken when a lanky, long-haired man cleared his throat and gestured for her to follow him and only when she had turned around to do so did the room escalated to its previous animation.

The man led her inside another room and to a counter by the corner of it, and then left just as quickly as he had come. The foul smell of rotting flesh was very distinctive in the air, and the touch of death and blood hung in the ambiance. Despite the poor lighting of the lantern at the center of the ceiling of the small enclosure, she could still clearly see the wanted posters pinned in random places on the wall behind the bespectacled man who sat at the counter.

Having done it a hundred times before, she lifted her luggage and dumped it gently on the wooden surface before revealing the face of the dead man, without a flinch nor a twitch so unlike the first time she had presented her kill. The man pushed his glasses up his nose as he flipped a page of a book, shifting his look from the head to the inked picture on the book several times before nodding. She waited patiently for him to dispose off the sack and quickly grabbed the pouch he placed on the wooden counter. She counted the pieces keenly first before returning a satisfied nod.

Now more light on her feet than she had came in, she planned on refreshing her supplies of bread and armory in her head. She knew she would have to take a look at the bulletin too before heading out so as to choose her next prey for the next few weeks. A life of a bounty hunter had no luxury such as rest because if she did not move fast enough, the others could take away her prize. It was the same as living as a feral animal in the competitive wilderness, for losing in the game meant death and winning was another day that you could eat, breath, and compete again. She had no more qualms to kill, but unlike most of the bounty hunters, she choose to end it as quickly as she could with the silent apology of a predator who was desperate and hungry. She also made sure to target someone who was utterly unforgivable, someone as sinful as herself. Mayhap once upon a time she had innocence, yet when that was or what it felt like she couldn't remember. Innocence was another luxury she couldn't afford anymore.

Her musings were interrupted when she realized that the room had silenced once again and she arched her neck to see what was the reason (which was clearly not her anymore because she was already sitting at a stool in front of the bar counter). Her brow furrowed warily when when her eyes sought a boy, nay, a young man who stood at the center of the place. He carried a bearing of regality and the clothes he wore - although plain and unimpressive - was so different and out of place inside the grungy surrounding of the Haven. Definitely a noble blood, as if the tall hooded figure behind him whom must be his escort wasn't indication enough. He must be from the north because his skin was fair, distinctive from most of the citizens of the south. His posture was tensed but he made no move to attack anyone and after a minute of suspicion, the people lost their interest of the dark-haired young man and went back to whatever they were doing before. She watched him sweep his gaze among the populace in front of him before it settled on her. She felt a sliver of anxiety trace her spine when he took his first step towards her. And then another, and another. Her blood stopped cold when she found herself face to face with the boy whom took a seat just beside her. He mustn't be more than sixteen years old and yet she barely reached the level of his deep brown eyes with her own.

"Hullo, good chap," he greeted with a small boyish smile, "If it wouldn't trouble you to answer a touch few questions, my companion and I would be most appreciative."

She raised an eyebrow at his polite request. Definitely from the north then. People from the south would break a bone before they could sound remotely close to this boy's tone. _And they call them barbarians._

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and the boy took it as a consent. He pulled a paper from his person and laid it in front of her atop the counter.

"Please tell us about this person," he continued.

She took a glance of the paper and suddenly couldn't take her eyes off of it, her muscles tensed and her surrounding spiraled as if being sucked by a black hole. For inked on the paper stared back her own face. Or at least the face she remembered when she had last looked in front of a mirror. The face had a gentle smile on its lips and the inky eyes were like a reflection of innocence. The poor excuse of a duplicate of her childhood on the paper was enough to break her heart and she felt like crying to mourn for everything she lost.

 _Serena of the Long Blade_

 _Terebinthian_

 _Offence: Assassination of the King of Terebinthia_

 _500 crescents_

How ironic. The coins she earned and received just a few minutes ago was just a tenth of the price of her own head. If she could, she would have beheaded herself more than five years ago and claimed the gold. Maybe then, she mustn't have suffered as much.

Odd, though. She had faked her death after her first year of running away, jumping off a cliff and leaving her father's signet ring somewhere near there. The posters should have been already scraped off every bulletin and burned. Even her mother's necklace that she had promise not to remove about her neck was bargained for a very unfair price a long time ago. How then, was this boy asking for a person that was known to already cease to exist? How did he know that she still live?

She shrugged her shoulders again, making the impression of nonchalance as much as she could. She took a large swig of her ale after slightly slipping up her veil and turned to leave but was taken aback when the hooded figure blocked her path. He was very tall, perhaps a head taller than her and the darkness that shadowed his face intimidated her. She refuse to back down, though. She narrowed her eyes and threw a punch at his face. With grace that she almost envied, he sidestepped to dodge her attack but it only made her smile because he himself made an opening for her. She spun as she ducked to avoid his hands when he moved to grab her and she collided with someone's table. Joining his bodyguard, the young man followed in pursuit of her and she pulled the table to propel herself underneath it, spilling the occupants of the table's drink and food everywhere. This clearly offended said occupant and so stood up with an angered snarl and swung a burly fist at her first assailant that was dodged by sheer instinct alone. Soon, the whole place erupted into a riot and everyone was attacking everyone. She weaved her way around until she reached the door but took a last glance inside. She caught the face of the hooded figure and held his gaze for a few seconds, a silent challenge and a message of plain you-don't-know-who-you're-messing-with before he was tackled by someone and she was already out the door.

* * *

Not more than twenty minutes after the rogue Terebinthian escaped from the riot she had planted in the Haven, the place was an imagery of warfare and carnage. Chairs lay broken in every corner of the once bar and restaurant and tables were no more useful than the windows that had turned into instant doors. Drunken bodies lay unconscious on the floor like a gathered heap of rotten fruits in autumn and all but Narnia's disguised monarchs stood head high in the center of the room.

"That clever little runt!"

"Language, Edmund!" chided Susan with a smack at her little brother's arm.

"I don't know who you're talking about, Tina," answered Edmund smartly, his hand patting the shoulder of his soft cotton tunic where Susan had hit him, a proud expression on his face and his voice an unnatural deep bass, "for I am Lord Divon, a noble of Anvard. King Lune himself gave me the title."

Susan rolled her eyes. "Temporarily, might I remind you. Don't act so couth, Oh my lord."

"Well, I am a king still, am I not?"

"Now is not the time to argue," said Peter to break the budding sister-brother quarrel. "Has Captain Illus returned yet?"

From the heap of unconscious men, a groan resonated and caught the ears of Narnia's golden four. Susan readied her bow, Edmund and Peter quickly unsheathed their swords. Lucy - who was closest to the awakening man - duly delivered a punch to the again unconscious bounty hunter's face.

"Not yet," she answered without batting an eyelash. "I am sure he'll be here shortly."

The four looked around them.

"I guess we should get out of here," said Edmund.

Peter pulled out a bag from his pocket, the contents jingling when he threw it in the air and caught it. He ambled gracefully to the bar counter, taking great care not to step on anybody. The coins rattled loudly when it landed on the wooden surface, catching the attention of the shivering crouched form of the bar owner.

"We apologize for destroying your windows," he paused, chancing a glance at his surroundings, "and for everything else, I suppose."

The bar owner instantly straightened, harrumphed indignantly, and grabbed the bag of coins as if expecting the disguised king to change his mind. "You should! You troublemakers are so uncivilized! This is a business establishment, not a warzone!"

"That's not fair, mister. We didn't start the fight!" argued Lucy.

"No, you didn't! But you sure did finish it! And destroyed my place, too!"

"Of course. We apologize again," said Peter before anything could escalate - given his little sister's incredible sense of righteousness, something ugly sure will and definitely not on the little girl's side. "We were just on our way out anyway."

He herded his brother and sisters outside with Lucy a little bit miffed, her brows furrowed and her arms folded.

"And stay out!" shouted the bar owner to their retreating forms.

Lucy struggled from her older brother's hold to go back inside and introduce the man to her dagger but Peter held her firm, so she settled on replying, "We sure will, you rude resentful dotard!"

The three older siblings simultaneously looked at each other, their eyes widening. Then they all burst into laughter, running on their way out like little kids playing cold desert air greeted them outside and they breathed it all in with laughter still resounding among them.

"That was astonishingly un-you, Lu, being violent," Susan said with a smile.

Lucy beamed at her older sister. "Oh, yes! I suppose there is just something about our adventure that fills me with a sense of freedom. No tutors, no instructors, no rite duties, and especially, no code of dress!" She sighed happily. "Maybe we should get out more often."

"What's wrong with your gowns?" asked Susan, her brows knotting into a displeased frown. She always picked Lucy's gowns.

"The ruffles and frills?" Edmund piped in. Susan gave him an angry look which passed over his head. "Are clothes the only point of interest of girls? We're on a mission about something, are we not?"

"Whatever say you, you unfashionable git," huffed Susan.

Peter pulled his hood down to peer at the sleeping town, to his bickering younger siblings, then back to the building they just came out of. "Well, there goes all my profit," was all he said, head shaking and a little wistful.

"Tonight is not at all productive; the hunter had escaped," sighed Edmund.

"Good thing Captain Illus stayed with us, lest, we'd lost our only lead," added Susan with a nod.

Their conversation was interrupted when the sound of hoofs reached their ears. Slowly, a merchant's wagon came into their view. It was pulled by four horses and driven by a man with bulging muscles, his limp shoulder length hair framing his face and covering his ears. The wagon was small but oddly awkward in height, yet it seemed to float as the horses gracefully loped on the sand.

The driver smiled at the four when the wagon stopped in front of them. "Good evening, majesties," greeted the man who was in fact not a man. He was a centaur named Helstorm, one of the captains of the Narnian army and the young royals' teacher in archery. His horse part was hidden by the wagon and fake legs was strapped on his torso to appear as if he was sitting on the driver's seat. The four horses were the siblings' mount: Philip, the talking horse for Edmund and Debbie was Susan's leading the front while the two non-talking horses at the back were Finn and Fu, Peter's and Lucy's respectively.

The door of the wagon opened and out poured the rest of their company on their little adventure. First was a satyr whose name was Captain Kenell, the two kings' teacher in the art of the sword besides General Oreius; followed by the raven Sallowpad, Cair Paravel's messenger; and Althea the naiad of the Rush, who taught the siblings the art of disguise. Captain Illus the panther, the master of stealth, was not with them for he had gone and followed the fleeing bounty hunter whom had been their main reason for venturing in this grungy town. The kings and queens greeted the rest of the company and explained what had happened in the Haven while Sallowpad scoured the skies for any signs of the panther returning.

"Quite clever," said Captain Kenell after their tale.

"Indeed, Captain," said Peter. "He knew he was cornered, and was wise to retreat. He used the riot to distract us."

"Oh look, Sallowpad is back," said Susan.

The small group of Narnians gathered as the raven landed on the wagon's roof. "Southeast, majesties," said the bird, "Captain Illus had found the hunter. He had crossed the river that separated Calormen from the great desert, towards the thick forest of Calormen."

"Very well, lead us to Captain Illus, Sallowpad," ordered Peter. "Let us hunt a bounty hunter."

* * *

 **A/N:** Please read and review! Thank you for bearing with me! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER II**

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a young prince who fell in love with a courtesan's daughter. He was persistent and reckless, thus, although the girl hesitated, she could not refuse the childish infatuation of the juvenile prince, and after all, she thought, he was not that difficult to love. In his joy, he carved for the girl a pendant of ivory shaped like a drop of water set in a chain of silver, a symbol of the tears and the beads of sweat it took for her to accept him in her heart._

 _Sweet and filled with youthful concupiscence, they believed that what they had could conquer anything dare go between them; and so, their passion had borne a fruit._

 _However, like all that was sinful, their affair was bound to never remain a secret._

 _When the prince's father, the king found out about their clandestine meetings and his son about to sire an ignominious child, he was enraged. He glanced at his son, disappointment and shame in his eyes, as he ordered the maiden and her mother to be beheaded in public, a display of the monarchy's punishment to those who thought they could clamour their way in the royal family through seduction and deceit._

 _Yet, when the king looked at his son's daughter, her eyes the same vibrant teal like his own, his heart mellowed. The child was his flesh and blood; his granddaughter. And he could not even wish to harm her._

 _Thereupon, the child was allowed to live..._

* * *

Serena didn't waste time and ran nonstop on the desert to flee. Tashbaan was not a pleasant place for grotty strangers because they were almost always dragged in slave houses and sold to Tarkaans. She had been there once, and once was never to be repeated again. So she ran straight south, to the mouth of the river where the water was deep and wide and was harder to cross. By the time the darkness was waning in preparation of twilight, she could already hear the sound of running water.

She had been there before and she had crossed the river that way a few times already. With practiced ease, she flung her bow and quiver to the opposite bank which clunked when it hit the ground, and was followed shortly by her thin, long sword, the pack of her supplies, and her pair of boots. The only weapon she kept was a small dagger attached to her right thigh so as not to be completely unarmed. With a deep breath, she plunged in the river with a great splash and then swam in speed to reach the other side. Looking as bedraggled and pitiful as a wet kitten, she pulled herself out of the water, reattached her belongings to her person, and proceeded to ran inside the thick woods of Calormen. Hopefully, the noble-blooded boy would lose interest on her and find another bounty hunter to ask information about a dead runaway girl.

When she deemed it far enough, she paused under a tree to take huge gasps of air. She shifted her bow and sword slightly, and then she climbed the tree to settle at its middle branch, not too low as to be easily spotted but not too high that she would hurt herself when she jump in haste. Her supplies were not refreshed so she ate her stale crumb of bread and biscuits hungrily, a portion of it put aside for another time. Her water-skin was not damaged, fortunately, and she drank her fill. Despite the light of the morning, Serena took it upon herself to get some sleep. After all, she could never know when she'd get the opportunity to do so next time.

It was barely a few hours in her sleep when she was alerted with something amiss. Mayhap it was paranoia, mayhap it was instinct but her hand quickly flew to the hilt of her sword and her ears perked up at every rustle of leaves and crack of branch. Her eyes widened when an arrow whistled in the air and if she hadn't moved out of the way, she was sure it would have pierced right through her shoulder. It thudded on the trunk of the tree as she fell on the ground with a wince. The side of her arm, a couple of inches above her elbow was grazed and was already bleeding.

Adrenaline pumping in her ears, she unsheathed her sword and met another with a heavy clang. She felt her heart drop when she met deep brown eyes momentarily before pushing him off and aimed a downward strike of her sword which he parried with two of his own. In the next few seconds of fighting, another arrow flew in the air and she shifted her head to let it whiz beside her ear, her eyes looking up to meet Tina's beautiful face, bow on the ready while her other hand reached behind her to retrieve another arrow from her quiver.

Angered, she fought more violently, throwing an unexpected kick at the dark-haired boy and it landed on his torso, sending him stumbling back and sitting on his rump. His eyes wide in fear, she swiftly lifted her sword to behead him when she was stopped short by a metal pointed at her throat.

"Halt, hunter, or your next move would be your last," said the newcomer in a deep baritone voice. His shadow fell on her so he must be the young man's bodyguard from last night. With a last look at the shiny metal a hair's breathe from her skin, she let go of her sword and it clanged on the ground. She knew when she was clearly outnumbered and out-skilled. If it was anything to go by, Tina's bow was one of the most precise she'd seen in all her years and both males clearly knew how to swing their swords, Serena thought wryly.

Tina dropped from her perch atop a tree a few yards away from them with a grace of a naiad and joinend them. Looking at her gentle, lovely face made a realization dawn on Serena. Tina was not a prostitute of the Haven, she was a spy. She had only seen her once or twice for the past month every time she had come to claim her bounty and the girl had never stayed too long in the house. She had been tailing her and gathering information from her fellow hunters for the past month!

Serena leveled her a glare and Tina met it with a smirk. _Oh, it's so on!_

They tied her hands and they took both her sword and her bow, much to her displeasure. When they had thought she was not threatening anymore, they made camp under the tree.

"I told you to hold back!" she heard the tall person reprimand the noble.

"He was running away! What was I supposed to do?" the dark-haired boy, for he looked so much like a boy then, answered defensively.

"That is beside the point, you could have gotten hurt!" was the reply which sounded more fatherly than the tall man could ever admit.

"Stop it, the both of you!" Tina interjected. She grabbed the younger boy's head with both her hands and inspected it, turning it from side to side like a delicate curio. Satisfied, she said, "Do not ever head in recklessly like that again, Ed. Ever. Now off along before Raenar hurts you himself."

The noble-blooded boy grumbled under his breath before he whistled using his two fingers, a signal of sorts, and they were then joined by a little girl in the company of a large, slick panther. She was in the early years of adolescence, her golden reddish hair braided behind her and her hazel eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Oh, P - I mean, Raenar! He's wounded!" exclaimed the little girl worriedly at the tall man after settling her eyes on Serena.

"He will live, Elwin," the dark-haired boy answered. "'Tis but a tiny gash."

The girl ignored him and strode to her side. She smiled at Serena warmly, eyes breeming with innocence and trust. "Hullo, my friend, I am called Elwin. Would you mind if I look at your wound? I am quite young but I am a healer and I could patch you up in good time."

"By Aslan, Elwin! Stay away from him! He might hurt you!" Tina exclaimed when she saw the girl beside Serena.

 _By Aslan?_

"No need to worry, dear sister. Illus is here to guard me, you see?" Elwin gestured and Serena was very much horrified to find the panther behind her, purring like a tamed cat.

 _Sister?_ Why would Tina take her little sister with her in a dangerous adventure, especially since the girl seemed to be no older than fourteen?

"Touch her, hunter, and I will skin you alive," warned the tall man who the girl called Raenar, his voice colder than ice.

Now in the light of the day and with his hood down, she now saw how strange he looked. His hair was like strands of gold - not platinum blonde or fair like most of the Archenlanders' but _really_ golden - and his eyes were crystalline blue, like the deep oceans she crossed before she reached the shores of Calormen. Like his companions, he was fair-skinned and was very much like someone of noble blood. He was right to conceal himself last night at the Haven, else he and his friend would have had a harder time than they did then.

As Elwin tended to her wound, she watched the three not-so-adults of the group huddle around and plan what to do with her in silent whispers. Tina sat at a fallen trunk of a tree, Raenar on a boulder beside her, and Divon, the youngest of them, was crossed-leg beside him. Every now and then, at least one of the three pairs of eyes would drift to her position, making her feel awkward and uneasy.

"You know," Elwin started conversationally as she rolled her sleeve up her shoulder to inspect her wound, "we never thought that this mission would be so hard. If I knew that it would take more than a month to take action, I would have chosen not to come with them in this silly sport."

Serena raised an eyebrow. _Sport? They think hunting a bounty hunter a sport?_

"I mean, even General Oreius himself was against this venture, but P - Raenar and Divon refused to back down from a challenge. They have been going on and on about this since we had voyaged to the Lone Islands and talked to the widowed Queen of Terebinthia. Those stubborn-headed boys are so impossible," she continued with her rant. "Finding a lost girl who had been rumoured dead for half a decade, why, they had gone mad! Unless the girl remained a ghost, she would never be found at all!"

She finished cleaning the wound and applied it some kind of soothing salve, and then bandaged it carefully. "There, all done," said Elwin with her radiant smile. "Don't strain it too much or your muscles will not heal for another month. The bandage should be changed twice every day to keep it from being infected. The salve I had applied on it, I confidently say, will work its job and your wound would be fine in a few day's time," she instructed. Serena nodded. She must commend her, she was indeed a healer in every sense of the word. "And, dear friend, please eat a little more. Your muscles are underdeveloped and you are so thin," Elwin voice trailed off, her eyes sad and worried. Serena thought she was so very sweet.

The three seemed to have finished their discussion and had now stood around her in a semicircle. Elwin hesitantly joined them and the panther did so too. Serena bit her lip at the scrutiny of five pairs of eyes. Raenar and Tina stood in the middle, Divon on Raenar's right side and Elwin on Tina's left. There was something about the way they carry themselves that Serena almost caught herself bowing.

"We shall ask, hunter, and you shall do well by answering truthfully," said Raenar imperiously. "Speak, what is your name?"

Serena lifted her bound hands and splayed her fingers in front of her in a wild gesture. Then, using the tip of her finger, she scratched a phrase on the forest floor. The four and panther exchanged looks.

"Oh dear, he's mute!" Tina exclaimed finally. "I should've known this would happen. And it was so undignified to act like a drab, too!"

"Come off it, Tina," Divon interjected, "he could write, could he not? He could answer our questions by writing it or gesturing. Besides, you were perfectly safe in the Haven. Raener and I always made sure of it."

"Well, then, what is your name, dear hunter? You could write, if you please," Elwin pleasantly requested.

'No name. Orphan.' Serena wrote in shaky letters. Another exchange of looks.

"Hmm, mysterious bounty hunter is such a mouthful, so we'll call you M. B. H. instead," said Divon with a touch of humor. "There, from now on you are M. B. H."

The other three snickered and the panther growled something akin to laughter. Serena snorted. _Astoundingly real mature_ , she thought with a roll of her eyes.

"So, M. B. H.," began Raenar. She gave him a look and he smirked smugly in return. "What do you know of Lady Serena?"

She shook her head. _Nothing._

"Another approach then. Divon," the golden-haired called his friend and the boy took out a pouch. He emptied its contents on his palm and then dangled a shining chain of silver in front of her face.

It took all of Serena's self-control to stop herself from lunging at her mother's necklace. The smoothly carved ivory pendant of a water drop taunted her and she followed it with her eyes as it swung from side to side.

"This is Lady Serena's necklace. It had taken great pains but we acquired it from the black market. The pawner informed us that a young girl had sold it to him in exchange of thirty crescents. What was strange, though, was that Lady Serena was already dead when it entered the trade. He also said that the girl carried a long thin sword that resembled the one you carry. Now for our question, where did you get your sword?"

Divon looked grave as an old man and Serena wondered how many times he had done an interrogation such as this. Maybe she could take this as an advantage. They didn't know who she was - they even got her gender all wrong - and had no idea that what they're looking for was right in front of them from the very beginning. She could divert them to a wild goose chase!

'Buy it,' she scribbled on the ground once more.

"Is he selling the sword to us?" asked Elwin in confusion after reading the words. Serena shook her head.

"No, El, I think he's saying that he bought it," explained Tina.

"Where did you buy it?" asked Raenar.

Serena put her index finger on her lips.

"What? What's wrong? An attack?" Divon warily looked around his surrounding. Serena shook her head again.

"We should be quiet, I think he mean," Elwin concluded with a nod. Serena rolled her eyes.

"No, silly, he meant he bought it somewhere secret," answered Tina exasperatedly.

The two younger ones broke with an 'oh' on their lips. Tina huffed and Raener crossed his arms.

"Well then, M. B. H., you will be our guide for our quest. Take us to the place where you bought your sword, and we shall spare you your life," said Raenar.

Serena felt a sick clenching inside her stomach and thought that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to lead them anywhere at all.

* * *

Half a day had already passed since they had moved on from the tree where they had camped. Her hands were still bound and the panther named Illus now walked beside her as her guard. The four others alternately took her other side every now and then, making sure that she has no chance to escape. Elwin had grown tired of walking and was now piggy-back riding Raenar to snooze for a while. Tina scouted ahead just a few moments ago and has now returned to bicker playfully with the older man. Divon was beside her and would sometimes add flame to the argument of the two.

Now that she thought about it, the four were oddly too comfortable with each other to just be simply a unit. It seemed like they knew each other well and cared for each other so. Raenar was the authority among them, Tina was the mother who looks out for them and acts as their centrist, Divon was their voice of judgement, while little Elwin was their cheerleader and medic. _And Illus is their obedient pet_ , she thought, amused. Nonetheless, they were like a family.

"It's great to be adventuring for a change," Divon sighed contentedly as he walked beside her. He watched the others for a while with a tender smile. "You know, it's my first time to go on an adventure with just us four," he glanced at Illus, "and a loyal panther, of course." Illus almost looked tetchy but ignored the boy's smile as he fixed his eyes ahead. "Have you ever been to Narnia, M. B. H.?"

The sudden change in topic slightly surprised Serena but she shook her head as a response.

Narnia. That country had been quite prominent since the endless winter that scourged its land had stopped. Tales of talking beasts and other animals, of beautiful tree and river and sea spirits, of mermaids, dwarves, giants, and of honourable monarchs had plagued every place she had gone. The island of Terebinthia where she lived for the first thirteen years of her life had no connection with Narnia - although they were recognized as allies before the century long winter had began and they acknowledged its monarchy as a fellow sovereign - so she had not known what that place was like. Now that it was relatively safer, she had heard that it was indeed a beautiful land. Merchandise traded from Narnia had more quality than anything anyone from Archenland or from the southern countries could get their hands on, making them quite popular in the market. Her own dagger was Narnian and she had to say that it was more than worth the money she paid in exchange of it.

"Pity, then," he answered sadly. "You would not get anything I would talk about."

Serena did not know what she could say to that, though she didn't have to and Divon clearly didn't expect her to say anything. Fortunately, Raenar broke the silence when he cleared his throat.

"We are stopping here for a while," he said. "Tina, scout the surroundings. Divon, you will accompany Illus in foraging while Elwin and I will set up the camp and guard the M. B. H. We would move on again through the woods in two hours."

The three departed quickly. Raenar did not trust her so he sent Elwin to get some water from a nearby brook while he built a fire using the dried twigs around him and looked after her. Elwin came back later with a half-filled water skin and an apologetic smile. Raenar just looked at her and fondly shook his head as he listened to her reason that she could not lift it when full. Tina reached the camp after and gave a nod to Raener, followed by Illus and Divon. Illus carried a bag of cloth in his mouth like his companion but Divon was munching an apple too.

"We found an apple tree," reported Divon, and then his eyes took a develish glint, "and a curious boar."

Elwin gasped when she caught what he was talking about. "Oh, Ed! You killed someone for food!"

Serena could've sworn Illus huffed in indignation while Divon rolled his eyes. "We hunted a prey. It's not a person, Elwin," he replied.

"Come off it, you two," edged Raenar in the growing argument. "Let us roast your kill, Divon."

Raenar and Divon went and cut the cleaned meat to roast it on the fire. Tina gathered more firewood to keep it burning and Elwin sat with Serena and Illus as her warden, sulking as she delicately changed the bandage of Serena's wound.

When they were done eating and everyone had their fill (Serena had never felt so full in a long time, for the group of nobles and panther were kind enough to share their food with her) they gathered around Serena and presented her a map. It was not a very detailed map; only Narnia, Archenland, and a few islands in the northern and eastern parts were marked with its towns and cities and the southern countries had only a label of their name.

"We have yet to explore the southern countries," said Tina when she caught her looking strangely at the unmarked lands. "We never had the time."

Serena pointed at a marked castle at the edge of Narnia by the Great Eastern Sea as a silent question.

"Cair Paravel of the Four Thrones," answered Raenar. "That's where the kings and queens of Narnia live."

 _Four?_

"Yes, four. They are siblings," interjected Divon with a glance at Raenar, his voice making a ridiculous mimicry of an arbiter. "But I say the High King is an arrogant prick. Just because he's the eldest doesn't mean he could act all high and mighty on his younger _loving_ brother and sisters."

Raenar looked at Divon with a mock angry expression, words dancing on his tongue but he bit it off before he could breathe them life. Perhaps he thought whatever he was supposed to say was not meant for her ears, or the panther's, or the two other girls' (although the two of them leaned closer with teasing smiles on their faces when they heard Divon). Giving Divon a firm I'm-not-through-with-you-yet look, Raenar ignored the two girls and concentrated on the map. Serena inwardly rolled her eyes. _There has to be a story behind that one._

"We had crossed this river yesterday and had travelled a mile due east before we found the M. B. H. then covered another three miles east by south since this morning so we would be somewhere around here," Raenar explained as he traced his finger on the map. "The woods is getting thinner, we would surely be out of it if we continue in this direction come the morrow." He looked at Serena. "Tell us, where is this secret market you speak of, M. B. H?"

Serena was taken aback by Raenar's excellent sense of direction and graphicacy. She had not expected him to be measuring their steps every now and then. She glanced back at the map ruefully when she realized how short the distance she had put between herself and them last night. No wonder they had found her so easily.

She traced the landmarks she knew of Calomen from her own travels in the map of the noble. If she was correct in her approximation, they were taking the right direction towards a small hidden encampment called Belen. She had never been there before because she heard that it was ran by ruthless bandits but she had skirted around it so many times that she knew the way well enough. In another three miles would be a village where a swordsmith lived whom sharpened her sword and dagger regularly for the past years. She would take them to him. She relayed this to her captors with another bout of frustrating charades and ground scratching - she wisely used a stick this time instead of her finger. Raener finally nodded his head and ordered everyone to pack up.

And so they continued their walk. Illus was now ahead of the group with Elwin and Divon, Tina her new warden, and Raenar brought up the rear. Serena observed the merry trio in front of her; she was pretty sure that the panther was replying to the two youngest in soft purrs whenever they think she's not paying attention.

Raenar was looking at his map as they move on but Serena could see that something was bothering him. His posture was rigid and he kept glancing around him as if expecting someone to burst out of the bushes or behind the trees.

When the sun had started to set, the five and the panther made camp for the night. Oddly enough, Raenar did not send anyone to forage for food but he did told the panther to scout. Bread and jam was passed around in supper and everyone was sent to sleep three hours before midnight when they had already finalized their plans for tomorrow. Serena felt anxiety clawing in her gut as she laid on the cold, uneven ground. Only her and Raenar were awake now - for he insisted on taking the first watch, staring unblinking in the darkness as the moonlight highlighted his pale form and his golden head. His hand was poised on the hilt of his broadsword, ever alert for anything.

"You should sleep, M. B. H.," he said without looking at her. "You will need it later."

Serena expected him to know she was awake, she really did; he had eyes like a hawk, after all. She watched him some more until sleep became too heavy on her eyelids and she succumbed to unconsciousness with the memory of an ethereal gold-haired king basking in the light of the moon.

* * *

 **A/N:** Please review! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER III**

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was an old king who ruled a prosperous kingdom. The king loved his people and was never cruel or unfair. However, despite his kindness and generousity, he was grieved to be destined with but a begotten son; the son whom his wife had died to bring forth to the world._

 _Perhaps he had been too overwhelming, his protectiveness too restricting, for the king could not fathom any more fault but his when the prince grew into a very silly boy with quite a superficial perspective. Still, he loved him unconditionally and hoped that, for his sake and the kingdom, he would someday grow out of this flighty stage._

 _And he was never so heartbroken to be let down._

 _His son, his sweet, naive son had conjugated himself with a common strumpet's daughter! And the silly boy was to sire a child with her!_

 _"I love her, father!" he had argued._

 _Love? What do he know of love when he discarded like trash every bit the king had given to raise him? What do he know of love when he don't even understand the consequences of his actions to his future? To his crown?_

 _But no! The king refused to believe it was his son's failing that had alluded his own trip down into chaos. No! It was the wench and her daughter that had ruined his son! And them he could never forgive, and they should be punished!_

 _Nearing the dawn of the girl and her mother's judgement, the young maiden birthed the child. The newborn was innocent, and the punishment the king decreed to its mother and grandmother do not extend to it, and therefore should be spared. Yet, still the king's rage boiled for retribution against the soiled honour of the royal family._

 _But he dared look at the child of his son, for just a moment, and his anger disolved like ashes to the wind._

 _A girl. His grandaughter. His blood flows through her veins just as her flesh had a portion of his own. Her wide innocent eyes curiously peered at him, and the king knew he love her as much as he love his son._

 _He could not equal his wife's devotion to her family when she sacrificed her life for their son; he knew he failed as a father every time he looked at the boy he raised alone, but he dared not fail as a grandfather._

 _And so, he gave her his name, and blessed her with his mercy and his love..._

* * *

Serena woke later with a muffled gasp when a hand covered her mouth. Even in the darkness, she recognized Raenar's blue eyes and he gestured her to be quiet. She looked around her and found that the rest of her companions were already wide awake, shoulders tensed and very much battle ready despite they were all crouching on the ground. There was a wariness in all of their eyes that she knew something was wrong.

"How many?" Raenar asked Divon in a whisper.

"Three archers above - three, five, and ten of the clock - and about twenty-five melees behind the trees around us. Illus relayed that five more are a few paces back, no doubt the runners," Divon whispered back. "They seem organized."

Serena glanced around in panic and then spotted what Divon was talking about though they've hidden themselves quite well. He said there were three - and she didn't doubt that at all - but she could see only one of the archers hiding in the darkness, the point of his arrow glinting as the moonlight touched it.

Bandits. Oh, she should've known they would be ambushed. She should've known that she had slightly miscalculated and they we're already too close to Belen for the bandits to notice their presence. Or maybe she did not. She had travelled this parts on her own well enough but she had not done it with a group. They were easier to spot and was more profitable than a lone bounty hunter, especially since the group she was with were nobles.

Raenar took a rope out and tied it on her bound hands. Serena's eyes widened when she saw him tie the other end to a protruding root beside him. He's not letting her defend herself! She'd be defenseless if the bandits chose to attack her. When she squirmed, he grabbed the rope that bound her hands and steadied it. "Stay still," he hissed.

He handed something to Elwin and she received it with a smile. "Illus," he said to the panther, "guard the M. B. H. with Elwin." He kissed Elwin on the top of her head like a worried father. "Stay here and be safe," he addressed the little girl. Tina came close to Elwin and hugged her tightly, and then followed by Divon who also gave her a kiss atop the head and a reminder to duck.

Silently, the three crept away from them and Serena watched in a bit of awe as Tina stretched the string of her bow with a lithe grace few could possess, took a deep breath, and revealed herself from her hiding spot only to let loose the arrow at an unsuspecting occupant of a tree. There was an audible grunt before a thud resounded on the forest floor.

As if it was a signal of sorts, a war cry broke the silence of the night when the bandits rose from their hiding places to attack. With the light of the moon, she saw Raenar and Divon rise from their crouch, Divon unsheathing his twin swords with a develish smirk and Raenar's sword humming in the air as he swung it at the first bandit who came too close.

Tina was fast on her bow and had already dropped two of the archers, inching for the third but diverted it a second too early when a bandit popped out in front of her whose heart received it deservingly. She grabbed another arrow from her quiver, dodged one from the enemy by a hair's breathe and let hers loose with a whistle in the wind and then was followed by a sound of something heavy falling a moment later. Taking another arrow, she pointed it at the battle going on between the two boys of her group, just in case she was needed.

Raenar and Divon were like a unit in their own right as they fought the other grounded bandits. It was as if they communicated through look alone and could read each other's movements like an open book. They moved in the elegance and agile poise of a deadly dance; weaving and spinning with smiles on their faces, playing and toying with their opponents.

Serena glanced at Illus and Elwin, and then to her bound hands with a look of disgust. If she could just free herself from the ropes, she could take this situation as an opportunity to run away!

When a bush rustled a few yards away from them, Elwin unsheathed her dagger and took a fighting stance. Illus growled and barred his teeth, muscles under dark fur bunching in preparation to pounce. And pounce he did when a man attacked from behind a tree.

Serena ducked when another revealed himself and tried to take her head off with his scimitar. When he stroke again, she arched her back to dodge it and slightly baited her bound hands. Like she planned, the sharp blade of the scimitar cut her rope loose and she smiled in satisfaction as it fell on a heap on the forest floor. She had no time to celebrate because the accursed Calormene bandit attacked again and she moved in kind to duck. With practised ease, she pulled her Narnian dagger from her thigh and flunged it on the flesh of his chest, feeling no remorse as she twisted it and pushed a little harder.

Spotting her sword in the middle of the ruined camp, she grabbed it and almost kissed it like a long lost friend but was stopped short when she heard Elwin scream. She hesitated for a moment; if she tried to save the girl, she wouldn't have enough time to escape, but if she ran, the girl who treated her with so much kindness could be killed.

The moment only lasted for a second before she ran in the direction where the scream came. She found three more dark-skinned men, Illus bloodied and unconscious, and Elwin gagged and bound. It seemed that Elwin fought with all her might because two more lay bleeding to death near her, and the person holding her had a terrible gash on his temple and a busted nose, grown man that he was. Elwin's eyes were trying to tell her something, her mouth screaming muffled words that Serena had no idea of.

The one injured, who must be the leader, nodded at the two others before hefting the squearming girl to his shoulder and retreating in the darkness. She moved to follow him but was blocked by the two and she fought them desperately, swinging her long sword with not as much grace as Raenar or Divon but with the same deadly precision. The two were already overpowering her before she succeeded to kill one.

The more powerful and skillful of the two worked better alone, much to Serena's distress, and he was twice her size. She tried to take her smaller frame as an advantage, ducking down every time he swung his scimitar to take off her head.

It must be karma, or a mistake, or plain instinct in the Calormene's part but when he swung his scimitar for the nth time, his left hand accidentally slapped her hand and she lost her grip on her sword. She stumbled back to retrieve it but the Calormene bandit had already spun and his outstretched leg hit her side like a ton of bricks, sending her sprawling on the ground. The dark-skinned man grinned in the darkness, he followed her with a downward strike of his weapon and Serena saw her life flash before her eyes as the sharp curved edge moved to split her in half. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the pain... that never came.

Clang. Serena looked up in shock to see Raenar's shiny broadsword blocking the scimitar and the scimitar's pointed end just an inch above her head.

There was something off about Raenar as she watched him fight the giant man. He was ferocious; his blue eyes cold and dark with anguish. The bigger man never stood a chance as the noble attacked with so much strength in every blow of his sword, making him cave and step back as Raenar pursued him like a mad man. Serena gasped in horror when Raenar kept on stabbing the man though he's already down and dead, taking joy at every splattered blood and tear of flesh.

Divon came running into the scene and he grabbed both of Raenar's shoulders. "Stop it! Enough! Enough! He's dead!" he bellowed at his friend. When Raenar swatted him away, Divon tackled him and desperately pinned him to the ground. "Enough, Pete," he murmured as if he's the one in pain, straddling the mad man on the chest.

Serena saw Raenar's eyes despite the dark; they were unfocussed, but he stopped thrashing when he recognized Divon.

The Calormene bandit's corpse could be barely discerned. Though Serena thought herself no more stranger to death and blood, the sight was so gruesome that she could taste vile rising in her throat.

Tina came barelling in later, her hands bloody and was almost crying but she held everything up like a strong warrior did. Raenar was calmer then but his blue eyes were empty and dead still, Divon now off of him was cleaning his sword crossed-leg beside him. Serena was still in shock, sitting on her rump a few paces away.

"Raenar, Illus is injured," Tina said as calmly as she could, her voice shaking and strained. "He's dying. I tried to tend to his wound but I can only do so much without Lu's help. I doubt he'll make it till dawn, Raen. We need the cordial." Her hands were trembling as her fingers fidgeted uneasily on her skirt, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Serena realized that Tina, despite her fierceness with the bow, was very sensitive and softhearted. The girl clearly did not belong in the battlefield.

Raenar sat up and held a hand for her. Tina took it gratefully and Raenar gathered her in his arms as she burried her head on his chest, his hand rubbing her back soothingly. Serena wondered how they made the gesture look intimately affectionate but not at all scandalous or romantic.

"The cordial," he said with a faraway look, "I gave it to her, you remember. And they took her."

"We'll get her back," Divon promised with conviction.

Raenar looked at him then at Tina. "I know," he replied. "Aslan help them if I find out they touched a strand of her hair."

He sheathed his sword after standing up.

"You," he addressed Serena, "you will take us to Belen."

Serena's eyes widened. Belen? Was he in a hurry to die? Belen was a village of about two hundred bandits. Though she admit that he was the most skilled swordmaster she had ever seen, he still wouldn't stand a chance against that much quantity of armed men. Apparently, she was not the only one who thinks so.

"Belen?" Divon asked. "Are you crazy, Raenar? You've seen them move, they are skilled and well-coordinated. I say even with Illus, I doubt we'll stand a chance against an army of those." He glanced at Serena with a firm, suspecting look. "And we can't just trust him. How are we supposed to know he did not lead us here on purpose? So he could take the confusion of battle as a chance to escape? He's a bounty hunter, for Aslan's sake!"

Raenar looked contemplative for a minute. "Let us give him the benefit of the doubt," he answered. "Besides, he tried to save Elwin. That is good enough for me."

* * *

 **A/N:** Wew! Finally done! This will probably be the shortest chapter I'll write but I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey, guys, I'm back! Sorry I haven't updated sooner but I do have an excuse. You see, my laptop crashed! Every draft I ever made for my stories are there and I don't know if I could rewrite them. You gotta believe how hard it is writing using my smart phone. The keys are cute, but I doubt I can really write multi chaptered fanfics using those. It's frustrating. Fortunately, I have already submitted the draft of this chapter in this site. I know it's long, and the ending is somewhat so-so but I hope you'll bear with me.

And, for my Aldnoah Zero fanfic, if you'd have the opportunity to stumble on it and found yourself dissatisfied with the lack of progress, I'm really sorry. I want to continue it but I have to start from scratch again. I mean, from chapter one at least. I'm rewatching it as of this monent with the hopes of getting my gears back into place. Again, please bear with me. I'll get back on it, I swear.

 **Disclaimer:** Seeing as I've forgotten this part for the past chapters, I hope it is not too late to do so before I got sued. I do not own anything. The Chronicles of Narnia and everything else that pertains to it belongs to C.S. Lewis. Well, I do own Serena and this story, but I have to make it clear that besides entertainment, I have no more benefit in writing this.

* * *

 **CHAPTER IV**

 _Once upon a time, in an island kingdom bountiful of verdant forests and hefty of trade relations, there was a princess born from an unexpected circumstance. Although there was an uproar about the girl's scandalous origins whispered behind closed doors during her first years, the rumors and gossips slowly died down as time passed. By the time she had spoken her first word, the subjects had almost forgotten, for how could they not be fond of such adorable and curious youngling? She was a charming force to be reckoned with, and the people treasured her as much as they did the rest of the members of the monarchy._

 _Young she may be, even she was not oblivious of the rift between two of the most important people in her life; her grandfather, the king, and his own son, her father. She did not understand why, and they both gave her no explanation to do otherwise. Despite this however, they did their best to shower her with love and happiness, so much that she sometimes worry if they ever care to leave some for themselves._

 _When she became a child of five, a dire situation befell the royal family and the kingdom as a whole, a true test that shook their very foundations to the core. For her father, crown prince of their kingdom, was kidnapped by the rouge pirates of Galma during one of his voyages; his life in stipulation of territory and free passage. She could only watch in distress as her grandfather was consumed by agony and wrath. He refused to proffer the ransom the pirates demanded and instead summoned his warriors and generals to retrieve the prince himself._

 _From the balcony of her chambers, she hopefully looked down upon the king's ship as it slowly drifted away beyond the horizon, her heart in her mouth. He had promised that he'll bring her father back, and the young girl had never been so faithful to believe so._

 _She should have hugged him tight then, tighter and tighter so he could not leave. Maybe she had not lost him if she did._

 _For that was the last time she saw him alive..._

* * *

The rest of her evening was spent piling the fallen bandit's corpses with the two males of the group while Tina went back beside the panther. The two young nobles watched her with a mix of curiousity, amusement, and disgust as she examined some of the bandit's faces before beheading a few of them, and then collecting the decapitated heads in her soiled sack. She had taken the opportunity to gather the free loot. Afterall, she did not intend to stay with her current companions for long and she'll undoubtly need the money.

Serena saw something glinting in the brush where Elwin was captured. She came near and found Elwin's leather belt, a bottle of something very shiny three-fourth's filled with a red liquid safely tucked in its case. The leather was cut loose, no doubt from Elwin's own dagger which lay discarded not too far away. Then she remembered, Elwin's message! She screamed not because she was grabbed, but because Illus was stabbed. She must have left her belt on purpose and she was trying to tell Serena to give it to Illus.

Serena picked up the belt and followed her not-capturers. She found them in their ruined camp, the three surrounding the panther who lay on a linen spread on the ground with its midsection wrapped in bloody bandages.

"Sires, I apologize for my incompetence to protect your sister. Please forgive me, my lords and milady," Illus coughed somewhere in the sentence, his voice but a tiny, sad purr. "A worthy guard I am for my charge to end up the one protecting me."

She froze on her tracks when she heard the panther speak. _Speak! The panther spoke in human tongue! Narnians! So talking animals do exist!_ If she was able to talk, she would have exclaimed those words but doing so would not only reveal her true gender but also the fact that she's been deceiving them from the very beginning.

"Oh, Illus, 'tis not your fault," Tina replied kindly.

"You did your best to carry out your role, my cousin, and for that we are grateful," added Raener. "Save your breath for her return."

"For we will retrieve her with haste," said Divon, "one way or another."

Serena cleared her throat, and the three pairs of eyes (Illus was facing the other side with his back on where she stood) simultaneously concentrated on her, making her uneasy. She lifted her load to show it to them and their eyes only widened.

"H-how... ?" asked Raenar, dumbfounded. So that's what he look like when he's caught off guard and speechless.

Tina gasped, her hand flying to her lips. "Why, its Lucy's cordial!"

 _Who in the world is Lucy?_

Divon unsheathed one of his swords threateningly. "Don't you dare, M. B. H."

Don't she dare what? She's returning Elwin's possession to them, and they still look at her with suspicion? Of course she's offended.

She made gestures with her other hand to tell them she found it.

"Peace, dear brother," Raenar said as he stood. He reached out his hand and took a step closer to her. "Give it to me, M. B. H." For a moment, she thought she drowned in the depts of the ocean as she stared at his commanding blue eyes, her breath catching in her throat as she regained the thought that she was nowhere near any body of water. Warily, she dropped the cordial on his open palm.

He stared at it for a moment, perhaps not expecting her to just give it to him, and then remembering Illus, handed it to Tina. Divon resheathed his sword and slumped back to his previous seat, muttering something about 'being cautious'.

"Oh Aslan bless her, our dear Lu is really sensible. She left this for you, Illus, probably the moment she saw you get injured," Tina said as she uncapped the bottle, her blue eyes sparkling with tears of relief. She put but a drop in Illus' mouth and ran her fingers on the black cat's fur, right between his ears. "Thank you for finding it, M. B. H," she said to Serena with a genuine smile.

Raenar was still facing Serena, his brain searching for the right words to say but seemed to have trouble doing so. "Yes, thank you, M. B. H." said he finally.

Serena waved her hand dismissively. No need to be so emotional about a bottle of medicine. It's not like it can save the panther, anyway; she doubt he'll last the next few hours even with the help of whatever was that medicine. Her thoughts were halted when she saw Illus groan, and then slowly stand up. Tina seemed to have expected it because she immediately hugged the black cat tightly.

"Thank you, milady," Illus purred to Tina's ears. "Thanks to Queen Lucy the Valiant, for valiant she truly was."

"Valiant. So that's what the laundrymaids were on about," thought Raenar out loud.

"Yes, my lord," Illus answered with a smirk - or whatever a teasing expression would suit a panther. "You should hear the words they describe you, sire."

Raenar just met that with a raised eyebrow, helping Tina stand on her feet.

"I was so worried," said Tina.

"I apologize for upsetting you, milady," Illus answered as he bowed low. He glanced at Serena and she thought - in her shocked state - a semblance of a smile appeared on his muzzle. "And you have my thanks too, hunter. I am in your debt."

Serena was still speechless. Her eyes travelled from the nobles to the panther again and again as if she just entered a completely different world.

 _Just who are these people?_

For the first time since she met the nobles, she realized just how bizarre and spontaneous they were. Nobility clearly ran in their blood, that much was quite obvious although all of them tried so hard to conceal it. The way their accents sometimes dropped to high court, a formal language mostly used by powerful nobilities and royals, also betrayed their position in courts. And yet, they were also well-trained and undoubtedly skillful in wielding their weapons, which was the opposite of most nobles. Even little Elwin - sweet, innocent, kind, little Elwin - knew how to slit a throat with her small, seemingly unthreatening dagger if need be. And they were siblings (debatable if only because they also call the panther 'cousin'), all of them in a single unit, participating a mission within a territory they had limited information on. Raenar was perhaps less than a year older than her, Tina was around her age but undoubtly younger, Divon seem no older than sixteen, and Elwin was not yet fifteen. And all they had as a grownup was a talking panther! And where the hell did they get an all-healing potion?

Just who the bloody hell were these people? What had she gotten herself into?

"We need to get a move on," Raenar suddenly said. "Illus," he glanced at the slick black panther from muzzle to tail, "are you well enough to scout?"

"I am at your disposal, my lord," answered the panther in a beat.

"The eventide is far from over, your stealth is much more efficient while 'tis still dark. Track the bandits to their base but do not engage them in battle. We'll follow your trail in a slower pace (and formulate a plan to rescue Elwin while we're at it) for you to easily backtrack and report to us before dawn, lest, they could spot you in the light of the day. M. B. H., do tell Illus the direction of the town," at this, he turned to Serena with a stern expression and Serena unconsciously lifted her hand to point where she knew by heart laid the nest of the bandits. With another bout of hand signals, gestures, and vaguely coherent letters, she also managed to tell them that it was just half the daytime's travel away from where they were (Illus could find it in a couple of hours, they assured her) and Elwin would undoubtly be kept there for another two days before they would sell her to a slave house in Tashbaan.

"Maybe we should just wait those two days out and meet _her_ _entourage_ to Tashbaan instead," said Divon in good humour. The two older humans laughed while the panther flicked his ears with amusement dancing in his green luminescent eyes. Serena was lost in their private joke. "Kidding aside, I think we should consider that. I say it's a lot safer than charging head on to Belen."

"No," answered Raenar, his jaw set and his blue eyes determined. "I'm not taking chances on her getting hurt, Ed. Those scums could do so much within two days. This is not ending up like last time, not when I can do something about it."

Divon's eyes slightly widened, momentarily lost in the hues of some bad memory, then he steeled his expression and nodded.

That was one more thing which made Serena wonder; their occasional slip ups and shift of names. The four siblings puzzle her so much that she had half the mind the shake each one of them till they turn blue to get her answers. They were intriguing, she realized, and it might be one of the reasons she was amenably working with them now.

"We must make haste! I don't even dare imagine what she feels now," said Tina.

Raenar stooped down the panther's level and Serena stared incredulously when he kissed the top of his head, not like the fatherly kiss he gave Elwin but more of a blessing.

"I bid Asan guide your path, cousin," said Raenar.

"By the Lion's breath, sires, milady," replied Illus.

"By the Lion's breath," was the simultaneous response of the three nobles.

Illus bowed once again before he dashed in the direction where Serena pointed, quickly blending with the darkness, as if he had always been a part of it.

* * *

Tall trees shadowed the winding trail hidden from view of all eyes save the lone eagle drifting on soundless currents of the morning air far above the crags and rocky slopes. To those below, this part of the Calormene forest was unbroken from its wilderness - uninhabited by humankind. Uninformed eyes would not have detected the slight indentation that resulted in a passageway, small and tucked securely away against the face of the steep outcroppings of rough and ragged rock, leading into a secret valley. It was the perfect setting for any who wished to keep their whereabouts concealed from an outside world. Outlaws. Blackguards. Brigands. Freebooters. Highwaymen. They had been called many things throughout the years - but always the names carried with them the same sense of hostility and hatred. They were seen as parasites - by terror and force living off the sweated brows and calloused hands of honest workers. And this secret valley seemed to be the intended destination of a man, breathing heavily due to the restless run he endured with a load on his shoulder whom just refused to keep still.

Lareesh had always prided himself for being the brain of his squad, the leader of his pack. His mates were thieves, murderers, and outlaws but he reigned them in like dogs who obeyed every command of their master. He organize them, and he always had a plan ahead for every obstacle they were bound to encounter. It was his very wit and cunning that had earned him his rank in the first place.

Yet, his most recent operation had been a complete mess and had blown out of proportion right on his face.

Their mission was simple enough. All they had to do was rob the young nobles traversing along their part of the forest, killing the males was optional but the women were to be spared and brought back to the village as captives. Women trafficking, as their chief had discovered, was quite profitable among Tarkaans.

Despite their youth and scarce of quantity, Lareesh had done his job to prepare well, building his plan meticulously to guarantee a complete success. However, he was ashamed to realize that it was not enough.

He had underestimated them. He should have known that the children were well-trained in the art of battle. And for the first time in a long while, Lareesh had deigned to cut his losses and ran away with whatever he could grab. He had thirty _grown_ men and three of the _most_ skilled archers Belen could offer when he left their camp, now all he could show to their chief for his failure was himself and a young fair child from the north who could slit the throat of men twice her size the same way she could skip and smile as she walked. Remembering his busted nose and his shattered ego when she had fought him so skillfully, he spit out a long litany of Calormene curses that no child should bear to hear.

Lareesh shifted his hold on the still squirming girl as he contemplated whether to flee away from the village instead of presenting the girl and his failure to their chief. With the view of the camp now nearing, he had hesitated too long, for the sentries had already recognized him and were now walking closer with grave and worried expressions on their faces.

"Is the chief in?" Lareesh asked quickly before any of the men could barage him with questions about his mission. "Quiet, 'ye brat!" he hissed under his breath when the girl bent on his shoulder writhed on his grasp.

The men gave him skeptical looks and Lareesh passed between their shoulders when they refused to budge out of his way, muttering profanities about men knowing their places.

The village of Belen could hardly be called a village, its entirety a far cry from the brick and granite of the major cities of Calormen like Tashbaan or Azimbalda. There were no houses; only a clutter of shacks made of wood, the roofs covered with thick clumps of hay stacked together to shelter its inhabitants from the glare of the sun or the pounding of the rains. It need not to be comfortable or pleasant to look at, for all the people who lived within the village were rugged men who cared more for the quality of their weapons, the number of women they could lay with, or if the barrels of ale were filled. The only tall buildings were the three towers posted at the edge of the valley, archers above to shoot down uninvited guests, and at the center of the village was the biggest cabin where the men ate and hang about during their free time. In another circumstance, Lareesh would have went straight there to wash the haggards of wear and travel with a cup of ale and a game of cards with his fellow bandits, but he instead went in the direction of the chief's cabin.

Aleghaardin Tarkaan. Their chief was once known in that name. Son of Naveen Tarkaan, son of Tishraat Tarkaan, son of Kershak Tarkaan, son of Lackhaben Tisroc, son of Ardeeb Tisroc who was a direct descendant of the great Calormene god Tash. He was the younger brother of the rightful heir to the lord of Azimbalda, successor of many riches, and had once the right to stand in front of the Tisroc on his feet and in his shoes, until an ambitious base birthed Calormene named Ahoshta won the favour of the Tisroc. When Naveen Tarkaan left to join Tash due to an incurable disease, his heir and descendents were removed of their rights by the aid of Ahoshta's poisonous councels and fabrications. His brother died poor and heartbroken a year after their father's death, leaving young Aleg to fend for himself. However, Aleghaardin was of noble birth and a natural leader; and for someone who had nothing else but his name, he was charismatic and easily lead a small group of misfits into raids of towns and ambush of travelers, and it grew and grew in number over the years as he himself became a man and a great warrior. In Belen, Aleghaardin was called 'Boss' and not Tarkaan, but the residents of the small town might have not known the difference - for they dare not disobey the Boss' orders the same way the rest of Calormen worship the path the Tiroc walked on.

Aleghaardin was indeed inside his cabin. Lareesh found him casually reclining on his chair while a tobacco dangled between his yellowish teeth and lower lip, a plume of residual nicotine clouding the already dark atmosphere of the small room.

"Lareesh? Ain't you back early, eh?" said the man inside the cabin, his grin widening at the sight of his burden. "An' who's the lil' lady? I figger ya'll been successful agin, aye?"

"Boss," greeted Lareesh uncertainly.

A messy eyebrow rose when the tall, burly man noticed his busted nose. He stood up from his lazy slouch and grabbed Lareesh's jaw with his left hand. "What happened to yer face?" When Lareesh didn't answer, his face twisted into an angry snarl, eyes narrowed and teeth barring. "Where's the rest of yer men?"

"B-boss, 'ya gotta listen first. They caught us unawares, they did, an' they were skilled, lil' kids they were, an' they had this beast with them, black an' monstrous t'was - killed all me men without much trouble an' iffen I haven't stole away with this lil' missy, I won't have taken anything else - " Lareesh broke into a ramble, trying and failing to find a logical way to explain how a handful of kids, a bounty hunter, and a panther outsmarted and out-skilled a relatively larger force of grown-up men.

"Lemme ask agin, Lareesh," the 'Boss' growled, "where's the rest of yer men?"

"B-boss, 'ya have to understand - "

"I gave 'ye thirty men and three of me best archers!" bellowed Aleghaardin, his hand unsheathing his scimitar. "You promised me two of them beautiful northern barbarian women an' all 'ya show up with is jest yerself an' half yer word!? I should kill you, I should!" Aleghaardin's scimitar was now poised on Lareesh's neck, a sheen of blood trailing from the shallow cut where the edge came too close when Lareesh gulped.

"But I won't, not yet," the Boss decided, sheathing back his blade and Lareesh sighed in relief. "Don'tcha be feelin' all comfortable now, Lareesh. Iffen you haven't be useful to me for years now, I would'nt hesitate to cut off yer head from them shoulders of yers. Go now and alert the men! Them kids would no doubt track 'ya here to git back their pretty 'lil friend."

Lareesh's eyes widened when he realized what the Boss meant. He had been too hasty; he hadn't even bothered to hide his tracks when he fled last night! Great Tash! He lead the nobles right into the village!

He jerked when Aleg grabbed the front of his cloak.

"Ain't 'ya listening? 'Ya tell them all be ready, 'ya hear? We'll git them kids as they come," said Aleg before he pushed off Lareesh, taking a long sip of the tobacco and drawing it out in rings of smoke. "Then imma figger how good them young nobles are meself, aye missy?" he added, addressing the barbarian Northerner with hair an odd mixture of yellow and red who sent him a furrowed glare for his troubles. Aleg let out a humourless laugh at that and then gave a sharp look at Lareesh which drove him quickly out of the cabin.

When Aleg momentarily turned around, he had not noticed the girl's mouth freed from the gag. He only did when she spoke, her voice firm and faithful and almost... _sympathetic_. To whom was not too hard to guess.

"You will never stand a chance."

* * *

The booming laughter of the big burly man echoed inside the small cabin, making Lucy's gallant heart beat like hoofs of galloping stallions. But she was a strong, brave girl; and so, she met the man's eyes with defiance.

Lucy had grown to fear only a few things since her vague memory of going inside the wardrobe with her siblings and defeating the White Witch, small petty things that were more real to her than the dark-skinned foul-smelling bandit housing this poorly constructed shack. She was not afraid of him although he towered in front of her like one of those Ettinsmoor giants her oldest brother chased off the northern borders several years ago, only with skin that shone like black silk and a great deal shorter. She had meant what she said; she knew her siblings and Captain Illus and even M. B. H. would surely come for her. And maybe more.

 _Dear Aslan, please guide them._

"Yer a brave li'l thing, ain't 'ya?" said the Calormene bandit. Lucy forced to stop the urge on commenting about his disjointed words. She imagined her instructor in formal language and etiquette fainting if ever she heard this man talk. "What's yer name, princess?"

Princess? Lucy's brow kneaded at the title. She was never a princess, although her older siblings always treated her like one. She was a queen. The difference of the titles was so vast that she felt insulted to be even mistaken as one. Susan had always felt the same way, too. Compared to those fickle and superficial princesses that had visited Cair Paravel to pursue suits with either of her brothers, she had not felt herself to be that shallow and mindless of her responsibilities - caring more for the state of their hair or the perfection of their manicures or the next good-looking boy that would come their way and sweep them off their feet.

Gulping the scoff bubbling in her throat, she deigned to answer, "I am called Elwin." _Here_ , she wanted to add, for in the north - in Narnia especially - she was called many names.

"An' where you from, Elwin?"

 _The truth?_ she wanted to ask him. She came from the remote north. The place where savage beasts talked and mythical creatures danced. There she was a queen - for her name was Lucy. Lady Lucy Braveheart, Noble Order of the Rose, Queen of Narnia, Countess of the Eastern March, Marchioness of Galma, and Guardian of the Fjords. Names, titles, ranks, responsibilities she earned; she was blessed with, she was appointed to. However, here and now she was just Elwin, the healer. Her brothers and sister had made a background for that name, a false story of her existence to easily blend with the crowd of Calormen and extract information from the locals - the same way Raenar was a merchant, Tina a courtesan, and Divon a noble. She was never good at lying but there were times she could pretend, but not without a heaviness in her heart. After all, pretending was just a subtle word for lying.

"The Lion's den," answered Lucy, a saccharine smile plastered on her lips.

The man narrowed his eyes, obviously unimpressed. Lucy expected violence, a slap maybe, but he surprised her by grinning amiably, displaying his dirty teeth and letting smoke ooze south of his mouth like a chimney. "How impolite of me, I ain't introduce meself yet," said he with false regret. "I'm Aleg, milady."

Lucy did not reply, deigning to save her energy for the fight that was sure to come, but the intensity of her glare did not let up in the least bit.

* * *

 **A/N:** The ending is kinda rushed so I wanna apologize about that. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review. I'd appreciate it very much.


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